From PageRank To Panda, Google Bends The Web To Its Will [Infographic]

With Google's ever-evolving algorithm, SEOBook posted a detailed infographic that took on the burdensome task of piecing together how Google  continually tries to reinvent itself. From the rudimentary beginnings that surfaced with the launch of PageRank a decade ago to the the recent release of its Panda update to curtail the relevance of 'content farms' - this 'Google's Collateral Damage' chart illustrates the search giant's Internet prominence and the impact it has had on Web masters and publishers over the years.

                                              _{(For larger image of "Google's Collateral Damage" chart, click here)}

Bending the Web to Google's will has created an ecosystem that is currently doing its bidding. Clearing the playing field of AltaVista, Lycos Ask Jeeves and other early-on-would-be competitors, "their most recent algorithmic update likely shifted over $1 billion in online ad revenues," says SEOBook. Much to the discontent of publishers who feel that their 'quality' sites were lumped together with 'content farmers' who maintain a high-ad to low-content ratio, many reputable blogs were downgraded unnecessarily as a result.

The recent Google update, otherwise known as the "Panda" update is named after the Google software engineer Navneet Panda. According to Google spokesperson Amit Singhal, "we named it internally after an engineer," because he was one of the "key guys" to make the current algorithmic breakthrough to weed out "Content Farmers."

For more on Google's Algorithm evolution over the years, check out my previous posts on this topic:

• As the Algo Turns- 7 Predictions for Search Engine Marketing in 2009
• 'Old School' SEO Can Address Google's 'New School' Real-Time Search
• Google's Algo Farmers Plow Through Content Farms